Rough, Tough Charley

by Verla Kay, Adam Gustavson (Illustrator)

Charley was rough.
Charley was tough.
Charley wore fancy blue gloves.

Charley Parkhurst always was more comfortable around horses than around humans. One of the most respected stagecoach drivers in the old West, Charley also kept one of the biggest secrets anyone could keep.

Now, through thrilling paintings and Verla Kay’s signature cryptic rhyme, readers are invited to explore an amazing real life, lived without limits.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biography, History, LGBT, Poetry, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Verla Kay is passionate about her writing and she loves cooking, playing computer games that have lots of puzzles in them to be solved and she also plays a lot of board, dice and card games with her family and friends (especially pinochle). She lives in a tiny town in eastern Washington, close to Spokane and the Idaho border with her husband of over 55 years and two long-haired Himalayan cats. Family is very important to her and she has four grown children (one married), four grown grandchildren (two married) and five great grandchildren that range in age from six to thirteen, most of whom live within visiting distance from her. She has previously had eleven historical picture books published, ten of them by Putnam. Wings Forever is her first self-published book and she is VERY proud of it! Visit Verla at: https://verlakay.com

Reviews

[H. Givens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the story, didn't like the poetry, had no opinion about the art. I also take exception to the ending timeline that consistently uses "she" for Charley. We don't know why Charley chose to live as a man, but since he did, it'd be more appropriate to just use "he." But the book is definitely presented as "Look at this woman secretly living as a man, this proves women can do anything men can do" it doesn't address gender identity or Charley's possible motivations at all.

[Jessica Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for any child learning to rhyme and learn a little history all in one. In this book we learn about the rough tough Charley who is a carriage driver. We learn about all the crazy stories that Charley has been through while being the horse driver. The surprise at the end of the story however, is that Charley is actually a girl! she has been pretending this entire time to be a man so that she could have a more active filled life style. A great read for any little one who needs a bit of excitement and empowerment!

[Mary Louise Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This narrative poem tells the story of Charley Parkhust who ran away from an orphanage, doctored horses, and ended up in California in the 1850s working as a stage coach driver until retirement. At Charley's death, the doctor discovers Charlie is a woman. But in the meantime, Charley did a man's job and even voted before women got the right to vote in Wyoming.

An extraordinary and little known historical character. Loved the timeline at the end of the biography.

A good chance for a reader to get into character and show the "old west."

[Kayla Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rough Tough Charley teaches children that no matter what gender you are, you can do a tough job. This book can be read at the ages of 7 and 8. The pictures in the book were very well drawn. This can also teach children that back then, women were not thought of has "hard workers. Charley was actually a girl is disguise because she wanted to prove that women are just as good as men.

[Danni Green · Rating 1 out of 5]

Charlie did not live his whole life as a man just to have this author end his biography like “surprise, she was really a woman” and then misgender him in the timeline at the end of the book. If you read this book, do not ignore the fact that he refuses to seek life-saving medical care, presumably because of what would happen if he were “discovered” while he was still alive.

[Jaycen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a completely surprise ending for us. We never expected Charley to be a woman. It led to some good discussion about gender discrimination in the past.

[Ronster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's picture book biography and rhyming poem. This book tells the fascinating life of Charley Parkhurst. She ran from an orphanage at a young age and lived her life as a man so she could do the work she loved and so she had more rights as a citizen. Facts are included in the lst few pages of the book. Use in units about the Old West, women's rights, and Charley Parkhurst.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story of Charley a hard working cowboy who is one of the best drivers of the stage coaches. The book has a fabulous ending and is a great book for anyone teaching womens rights or the old west.

[Jenni Frencham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the story. Loved the illustrations. Some of the poetry was a bit stilted, though, so I might have enjoyed it better if it hadn't been written in verse. Still, a great gender-bending picture book.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new favorite of mine and can be yours too! Love girls who can out do boys!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this is a fresh story in that I've never heard of Charley before. This is a new bit of history for me and that's always something I like to come across in children's picture books. I also like the western theme of the story. I like the artwork quite a bit. I like the smoothness of the colors, but the coarse tone of them in some areas (facial shadows/blurred edges of shapes). I also like that the book leaves the twist for the very end, because it flips the reader on their head a bit and kind of makes you go back and reconsider everything that Charley was doing from a different perspective.

I half-enjoyed the "cryptic rhyme". I don't like how cryptic it can be when covering major plot points, because at times it can be frustrating to try to get the most out of the story with just the tiniest amount of wording available. I liked the rhythm of the rhyme throughout the story, because it was very smooth and driving. Some areas of the story were clearer than others, which was good, but some portions just take "cryptic rhyme" much too literally and created a feeling of stunted storytelling here and again. I would have preferred a rhyme scheme that allowed for a bit more length, to really get some of the more detailed parts of the plot covered, instead of having to read through a list of facts in the end. The end facts were really just a chronological overview of the book that was just read, with more context...so it is like retelling the story in a typical dry history manner, without any of the characterization of a picture book. I would have liked to have seen the prose and the facts blended more effectively to just tell the story in one broad swoop, instead of two alternate methodologies that ends up feeling like double reading instead of further information on what was just read and learned.

Overall though, a very intriguing book that provides a lesser known aspect of history to readers.

[Rachael Fricke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's written in rhyme. A simple story of a boy, who does all the things boys do, cares for horses, drives a stagecoach, votes, but never marries. On his death bed the people find out he's had a secret this whole time. An adorable story. Simply written. Young readers will enjoy reading this story independently or it would make for a great read-aloud. There is even a twist ending!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Charley Darkey Pankhurst, expert “whip” or stagecoach driver during the California Gold Rush, said to have always delivered passengers safely to their end destination. This story has an astonishing surprise ending which may be controversial for some.

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing story! Great surprise at the end when we end up knowing who Charlie is!
I have been sharing it for some time with students and they adore it, it is always surprising and amazing to see their reactions at the end.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not have high hopes for this, but it turned out to be fun. And Charley's biography is definitely worth a picture-book. Despite the fact that I normally don't like rhyming text, this was fine; in fact, I will look for more by the author. Includes back matter.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography book in verse with surprise at end. Good for reviewing summarizing and teaching about drawing conclusions.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This true story about a wagon driver is a fun book with a surprise that is great. Kay writes with her signature rhyming style. I enjoy her books.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter was a bit bored with this true story, but she loved the twist ending. She even went and reread it once she knew Charley's secret.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the historical aspect of this book, and think it would be a great way to teach a lesser known but very important character to kids.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry here isn't all that great, but the story is interesting. The timeline at the end keeps referring to Charley as "she" - for whatever reason, Charley lived life as a man and that should be respected, so that bugged me.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One-Eyed Charley. Not really somebody you see a lot of biographies about, especially for kids. For some reason we can't tell, Charley was a girl who decided to live her life as a man - and did. Popular and successful by most measurements, too, and that was a secret that stayed well hidden, nobody knew until Charley died.

This picture book is fast-paced, a good clean rhythm and rhyme scheme, very tight story... and it has a detailed afterword (with a map) for those of us who didn't catch all the information when it was written in short, catchy couplets. Good illustrations, a moral message (women can do what men can do, even if society says otherwise) that's factually based and not overstated, and a wonderfully flawed hero for kids - said to swear and be antisocial! What sort of kid isn't gonna eat that up?

A few points, though. First, the story itself is maybe a little *too* short and catchy at times. One particular verse - "Charley don't have/accidents/sprung those horses/he's got sense!" - springs to mind. Even with the illustration, this didn't make ANY sense until I read the afterword and found the event that verse was referring to. And of course you're not going to run to the afterword in the middle of a rhyming book - or any book! I'm not sure how this could be improved without drastically altering the book, though.

The other minor issue has to do with pronoun use. Mostly during the book, Charley is referred to as "he" when pronouns are used. This is appropriate, people no doubt referred to Charley in the masculine. However, after the discovery (after death), the pronoun "she" is used a few times to make the moral point. Nowadays, I'd say that if somebody chooses this or that pronoun, that's the one we use, regardless of genitals. That's just polite. And while we can't go back and ask Charley if he was just dressing like a guy for convenience or if he really felt himself to be male, it seems likely that people don't spend their entire lives hiding out just for the heck of it. At any rate, this is a minor quibble. The book seems very respectful of Charley, so it's not like I'm reading it going "Wow, they're making fun of this person's life" here.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Verla Kay's history books. She manages to summarize historical events in verses easy and short enough for middle elementary age children to read. This one is about a stagecoach driver named Charley Parkhurst, who I've read about before in Pam Munoz Ryan's Riding Freedom. Charley was an excellent stagecoach driver, tough, fearless. After he retired from the business, he voted and worked at other jobs. On his deathbed, however, to everyone's surprise, it was discovered that Charley was a woman! How clever "he" was to find the freedom to vote and to work any job "he" chose at a time when women couldn't vote and were barred from many types of jobs. The illustrations in this book were uneven in depicting Charley as a female disguised as a male--some pictures were convincing; others weren't. Nevertheless, I recommend this book as an intro to perhaps the first woman to vote in the U.S.

[Tim Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Historical Fiction/Biography
Copyright: 2007

Charley Darkey is rough and tough and always gets the job done. Charley Darkey is the fastest, safest stagecoach driver in all the land, whose passengers always arrive on time, and none were ever injured. Charley Darkey, who got kicked in the eye was as tough as they come, but Charley has a secret that nobody but Charley knows.

This book was written in a rhyming verse style and the illustrations were great. There is a little bit of dialect in the beginning that may confuse young readers, but other than that, the book was well written. The last page of the book has information about Charley Darkey in a time-line fashion. The story even had something I couldn't see coming! Nice, easy read for younger readers.

[Katie Fleming · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Rough, Tough Charley," by Verla Kay is a story about Charley who votes and is strong but then we find out Charley was actually a women in disguise. I liked the story of this book but I did not like how it was presented. For example, the grammar is poor. I would not want young children who are learning their grammar rules to read incorrect grammar in a book. Also, I thought some of the elements were a little too heavy and bluntly said for little kids. Talking about death and just saying "bury him" is a little insensitive for a young child. Overall, I think this story had great intentions but it would be better read by an older child.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has got to be one of the weirdest books I've ever read. It's the true story of Charley, a women who disguised as a man, drove a stagecoach out West for many years. She was not detected until after her death. Basically, the book is a plea to understand that women can do anything men can. The rhyming style and bluntly told story make it a compelling read. But you have to wonder if Charley was an eccentric, desperate to earn a decent wage, or just a weirdo. This is the sort of picture book that stays in your mind, long after more conventional storybooks have faded.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a biography told in rhyme about Charley, the runaway orphan who became a famous stagecoach driver. He was known for being on time, having excellent control over the team of horses, and shooting any thieves who tried to steal from his passengers. The "wild west" feeling of the time period comes through in action-packed painted illustrations. The best part of the story, however, is the shock we get at the end when we find out that Charley is actually a woman. She's been pretending to be a man so she could live a more active life (and vote!).

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short form of poetry that told the story of a woman who posed as a man and drove wagon trains in the days of the wild west. It was an interesting story, though a few more syllables in a couple of the lines would have been appreciated. But what do I know? I've never been much for some forms of poetry.

[Amanda Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Charles Parkhurst before. This was a very interesting history lesson, though I give it four stars more for the introduction into something new and the timeline at the end than for the story itself. I guess I don't care for the poetic style it was written in.

[Alyssa Casto]

This book had great pictures and was filled with thrill and adventure throughout the whole book. Charley the main character wasn't really a people person but loved being around his horses pulling his stagecoach.

[Robert Farmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compelling book to read but still very weird in a way as a girl is dressed as a man. The point of it is to show that there are no boundaries between what a girl and guy can do, but i think this would be a little odd to children.